Apple, Google, HTC, RIM, Others Buy Kodak Patents

Eastman Kodak today announced that it has sold a collection of its imaging patents to a consortium of companies for a total of $525 million. The consortium, which is led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp., includes Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Fujifilm, Google, HTC, Huawei, Microsoft, Research In Motion, Samsung, and Shutterfly. Under the terms of the agreement, Intellectual Ventures (which is itself a patent-licensing firm) and RPX gain ownership of the patents, while the other firms are all contributing licensing fees for access to the patents. The patent sale is one measure being taken by Kodak to recover while undergoing bankruptcy reorganization. The patent sale also concludes any litigation between Kodak and the new licensees.